Jump into a job in tech

Ryan Donn -
Nov 25, 2015 / 8:30 am | Story:
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Photo: Ryan Donn

Are you ready to jump into a job in tech?

I was pretty shocked to learn that we have over 500 tech companies in the Kelowna area.

One of the most surprising aspects of this is that the pace of growth for that sector in this area has outgrown our ability to educate the community to match the need. This is forcing our local tech companies to look further afield to fill the jobs.

With our expanding tech scene, the need for new developers has created a bottleneck for further growth in the Okanagan.

I want to introduce you to two local entrepreneurs, Shane Austin and Chris Gliddon, who plan to fill the gap. They have stepped into the ring, and partnered up with Lighthouse Labs to provide in-depth boot camp learning to get you trained for a whole new career in just six to eight weeks.

Would you like to learn more? Show up for their information session on Thursday:

“Having watched the tech growth in this community over the years, it became apparent to me that the need for talent has become an extremely high priority. This type of experiential learning is vital to those who desire to build technical coding skills and fast-track themselves into the industry.” says Shane Austin, Co-founder of co+Lab. “When I saw the rave reviews from their alumni, and companies who had hired from Lighthouse Labs, it became a no-brainer to bring them into our burgeoning tech community.”

The eight week Web Development Bootcamp boasts an unprecedented 100% employment rate for their job-seeking graduates, many of whom have little previous exposure to coding. The Intro to Web Development Course will give students a comprehensive introduction to software development.

The fundamental belief of Lighthouse Labs is that coding is a craft, and should be taught as a trade. The program boasts an agile curriculum that focuses on the most relevant skills with industry professionals as teachers. Classes are kept small, with a one-to-seven teacher-to-student ratio, using a hands-on approach in which students learn by building web applications.

“People go through school for a degree that doesn’t necessarily leave them with practical job applicable skills.” explained Chris Gliddon, Community Manager at Lighthouse Labs. “When students graduate from the Lighthouse Labs program, they have the hands-on experience needed to succeed and be employable as a developer. The program is all about outcomes and results.”